THE PREPS : Softball : Wendy Shean Ends Week in Grand Fashion

San Clemente High School’s Wendy Shean wasn’t having the greatest week. Until Friday.

Wednesday, her softball team lost its South Coast League opener to Mission Viejo. And the same day, her identical twin sister, Michelle, signed a national letter of intent to play softball at Oklahoma State.

Wendy has not been recruited by any schools and admits she’s a little jealous of the sister who is 21 minutes younger.

“Sure, wouldn’t you be?” Shean said. “She’s got it made.”

But Friday, Shean improved her week and at least momentarily knocked her sister out of the spotlight by hitting a grand slam against Irvine. The fourth-inning homer scored all the runs San Clemente needed in a 4-0 victory at Harvard Park. San Clemente is 11-6 and 1-1, Irvine 9-8 and 1-1.

At the top of the inning, Irvine’s freshman pitcher Jennifer Brundage--who gave up a total of four hits--hit San Clemente’s Wendy Moon with a pitch, then gave up a double to Wendy Stewart.

Michelle Shean walked to load the bases, and her sister Wendy stepped up to bat. Her teammates called to her: “Come on Wendy, grand slam.”

“I was thinking ‘Oh yeah, right,’ ” Shean said.

But Shean hit the ball over the head of Irvine right fielder Sandy Lutsch, scoring the three baserunners, then slid across the plate seconds ahead of the throw for her third home run of the season.

Orange County pitchers, take note: Walking Michelle Shean, who is hitting .260, to get to her sister isn’t such a great idea. It was the second time this season that Wendy, who is batting close to .250, followed a walk to her sister with a home run. The first occurred against Pacifica.

With the comfortable lead, San Clemente pitcher Niqua Monson went to work to seal the victory. She scattered six hits and struck out three.

In another South Coast League game:

Mission Viejo 2, El Toro 0--Erin Fitzgerald retired the first 14 batters she faced before she scattered three hits. Host Mission Viejo (13-4, 2-0) scored both its runs on errors in the first inning. For El Toro (13-7, 0-2), Paige Lauby allowed only three singles in taking the loss. Leanne Davis had two hits, including an RBI single in the first inning, for Mission Viejo.

In the Sea View League:

University 11, Saddleback 3--Michele Bell had one hit, including a three-run homer, and four RBIs to lift University (8-5, 6-1) at Saddleback. Shareen Patton (8-4) threw a three-hitter, striking out four, for University.

In the Sunset League:

Edison 1, Westminster 0--Terry Carpenter threw her sixth one-hitter of the season to lead Edison at Westminster. Carpenter (10-3) struck out 15 and didn’t walk a batter. The only hit she allowed was an infield single by Sandy Robinson in the third inning. Stephanie Viola also threw a one-hitter for Westminster (9-9, 0-2), but the hit was enough to beat her. In the second, Rhonda Patterson doubled down the right field line, scoring Krista Eckert, who had walked, and giving Edison (12-4, 2-0) the victory. Viola (8-9) struck out six and walked one.

Fountain Valley 5, Huntington Beach 4 (10 innings)--Paula Estes hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th inning to knock in Laura Bruce for Fountain Valley’s winning run. Estes went 3 for 5, and freshman pitcher Rae Rice (11-2) struck out 19 with 1 walk. Rice also went 2 for 4.